Nick Bromberg

Idaho says the bowl ban imposed on the football team because of poor APR scores has been lifted.

The Vandals were inelgibile for postseason play in 2014 as a penalty for poor academic performance from 2009-2012. Both Idaho and UNLV were banned because of their low scores.

In a revealing quote on Idaho's website, coach Paul Petrino had this to say:

“It was a group effort,” Petrino said. “Everybody worked really hard.”

The Idaho football website was also quick to point out that the team has accumulated a 2.55 GPA in Petrino's "four semesters" as head coach. According to the school the APR for the team is expected to be in the 960s this season. In 2011 and 2012, the team's score was below 900.

The school will also receive the restoration of four hours a week in practice time if its APR scores are above 940.

NASCAR is reportedly asking the next title sponsor of the Sprint Cup Series to pay significantly more than Nextel did when it took over for Winston.

Sprint, which assumed the role of Cup Series title sponsor after the Sprint-Nextel merger, announced in December it was discontinuing its sponsorship of NASCAR's top level after the conclusion of its current contract in 2016. According to the Sports Business Journal, NASCAR is asking the next title sponsor of the Cup Series to commit approximately $1 billion over 10 years in naming rights and activation.

The sanctioning body has hit the market for Sprint’s replacement with a price tag of $45 million to $50 million annually in rights fees and the same in activation over a decade, according to sources. Sprint confirmed in December that it would end its 13-year sponsorship of NASCAR’s top series after the 2016 season. NASCAR declined to comment for this story.

1. Joey Logano (LW: 1): There's no way to drop Joey after finishing fourth. Yeah, three of his closest pursuers in Power Rankings all finished ahead of him, but after he got the pole and ran in the top five for most of the day, there's no point in dropping him from the top spot. Before the race, Logano also said he was going to donate all his winnings from it to the Folds of Honor, the program sponsoring the Atlanta race.

2 (Tie). Kevin Harvick (LW: 2): This is a cop out here. Similar to Logano, we can't bump a guy down from second in Power Rankings after his average finish through two races is ... second. So Harvick stays here, even if it's by virtue of a tie. He might have had something for Jimmie Johnson at the end of the race, but he didn't start close enough to the No. 48 to make it a race at the end.

Lucky Dog: Danica Patrick would make the Chase if it started this week, y'all. No word if NASCAR will institute a 34-race Chase to make this a reality, however.

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said "10-ish" players will be disciplined for what happened between the Cougars and Memphis at the conclusion of the Miami Beach Bowl.

However, the team is still not announcing who those approximately 10 players are.

“We’ll try to maintain a competitive advantage as long as we can, and protect the kids as much as we can,” Mendenhall said via the Deseret News. “I think everyone knows I thrive on accountability and don’t back away from it, especially at BYU. So I’m comfortable with who we’re disciplining and how. I’d like to protect our players as much as we can.”

BYU and Memphis were involved in a large brawl after the Tigers' double-overtime win. Cameras captured many players involved in the fight and even a player swinging his helmet as a weapon.

Mendenhall also said that any suspensions would be announced as the 2015 season is close to beginning.

Having performed an exhaustive series of tests and scans – some of them as recently as yesterday evening – McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso’s doctors have informed him that they find him asymptomatic of any medical issue; that they see no evidence whatsoever of any injury; and that they therefore describe him as entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac perspectives alike.

In order to limit those environmental risk factors, specifically, his doctors have advised that he should not compete in the imminent Australian Grand Prix meeting, which will take place on March 13 th , 14 th and 15 th .

The May 9 Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway will be sponsored by Nickelodeon and titled the "SpongeBob SquarePants 400."

No, it's not a joke. This isn't Warped Wednesday.

Before you go crazy wondering what NASCAR has come to, it's probably a good idea to remind you this isn't the first time a NASCAR race has borne the SpongeBob name. When the SpongeBob movie was about to be released, the fall 2004 Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was named the "Lowe's Presents the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300" per Racing Reference.

Maybe we should check with Menard's or Home Depot about a presenting sponsorship for this race.

Per a release from the track, there will be a Nickelodeon Kids Zone at the speedway and a SpongeBob photo booth. If it's a way to get kids out to the track, it's probably a good idea, don't you think? NASCAR isn't exactly the most popular sport among the younger demographics.

“The outside experts, one of the things they had advised us from the beginning was no matter what actions we take … that it was very, very important for us to provide a road back,’’ NASCAR spokesperson David Higdon told NBC Sports “For those who are experts in this field, specifically in domestic violence, that is critical. We did follow that advice. We’re pleased that he has indicated he will begin the program that we have laid out for him.’’

JUPITER, Fla. – Predictably, a gym full of baseball players preparing for the 2015 season is a far different scene than what you'd see at your local gym. There's no one struggling on a treadmill. Instead of the bench press being the most prevalent exercise, the room is dominated by squats, deadlifts and lunges; all lower body exercises. There are a lot of people using foam rollers and doing shoulder strengthening routines.

And while there is a lot of commonality in terms of exercise selection and philsophy, each player is training for his needs and role on the diamond.

Just like an infielder doesn't throw regular bullpen sessions and an outfielder doesn't practice turning double plays up the middle, offseason workouts shouldn't be uniform for every professional baseball player. You can't simply ask how a baseball player works out. You need to specify, at the very least, the player's position. And even then, it's not as simple as saying every player at a certain position should train the same way.

He was found in a car in Churchill at 10:59 a.m. Friday. He is from Ocala, Fla. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.

“Everyone associated with the Duquesne football program is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Chris," Duquesne football coach Jerry Schmitt said in a statement. "Chris was a passionate football player who was also a great teammate, who was loved by many. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chris’ family at this difficult time.”

Johnson's final game at Florida was the 2013 Sugar Bowl loss to Louisville. He was ejected in the second half for throwing a punch after an onside kick. He was a senior in 2014 at Duquesne and had 55 tackles playing defensive back.